Little Green Men
by Noisseau
Summary: An in-depth look at that much neglected second season premier


Title- Little Green Men  
  
Author- Noisseau - imhis1in5billion@hotmail.com  
  
Rating- G  
  
Spoilers- Well, obviously "Little Green Men" and the 1st season finale  
  
Keywords- Mulder/Scully friendship, UST  
  
Disclaimer- Mulder, Scully, and the X-Files are owned by Chris Carter, 1013, Fox, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson. I have no intention of profiting in any tangible way from this venture.   
  
Archive- Gossamer, Fanfiction.net, anywhere else, please ask  
  
Summary- An in-depth look at that much neglected second season episode  
  
Author's Note- The majority of the dialogue is quoted directly from the episode....don't shoot me! *cringes*  
  
  
**********  
  
Little Green Men  
  
**********  
J. Edgar Hoover Building  
Washington, D.C.  
September 16, 1994  
Basement  
  
  
  
"Cecil and me, we went over to that one strip joint."  
  
"Yeah? Ya treat yourself?"  
  
"Aw, man, let me tell ya! You know that one Tuesday?"  
  
"Wait, ya went on Tuesday?"  
  
"No, no, that's the stripper's name, Tuesday."  
  
"Oh, yeah, I know her."  
  
"Anyway, she's on stage dancing to that Offspring song 'Come Out and Play.'"  
  
"Nice touch."  
  
"Very hot!"  
  
"Keep goin'."  
  
"So I'm tippin' her big, no ones. Five spots; I'm layin' 'em down on the rail, boom, boom, boom."  
  
"Yeah, I'm likin'."  
  
"By the end of the song, I had like forty dollars laid out on the rail!"  
  
"Its not a long song, is it?"   
  
  
//This is such crap work!// thought Special Agent Fox Mulder bitterly. His title was absurd though, he though idly; he hadn't felt particularly "special" in weeks, ever since the X-files had been shut down. He'd felt anything but positive since *They* had taken his partner away from him. They had shipped her back to Quantico to teach, while he was relegated to a small cinderblock room and a wiretap job in the bowels of the Hoover building.  
  
The monotonous drone emanating from the headphones had a counter point in the steady crack of sunflower seeds. The pile of spent shells had grown exponentially over the past hours until Mulder was sure his digestive system was scraped clean.   
  
He let out a weary sigh and rubbed his eyes. //Ah, Scully,// he thought plaintively, not willing to betray her by voicing it for whomever might be survielling him. //What now?//  
  
**********  
FBI Academy  
Quantico, VA  
3rd Autopsy Bay  
  
  
  
"It is advantageous to begin an autopsy with removal of the cranium. The cranium is opened with a horizontal division an inch above the eyebrow ridges." Special Agent--now pathology instructor--Dana Scully paused, staring at the dotted line on the cadaver's forehead as her thoughts took a more philosophical turn.   
  
One of the four trainees surrounding the autopsy table leaned forward a bit and asked, "Something wrong?"  
  
"What this man imagined, his dreams...who he loved, saw, heard, remembered...what he feared--somehow, it's all locked in this small mass of tissue and fluid." Her brow furrowed contemplatively.  
  
The lone female student stepped hesitantly toward her. "Are you okay, Agent Scully? You kinda sounded...a little spooky."  
  
Scully looked up, startled out of her thoughts by the student's word choice, almost surprised to find that she was not alone. "I'm sorry...." she trailed off, embarrassed. "We'll continue this lesson tomorrow. You are dismissed."  
  
The trainees glanced at each other, shrugging their eyebrows discretely and making their way out of the autopsy bay.  
  
Scully sighed wearily and slowly stripped the soiled latex gloves from her hands. She had always found great satisfaction in teaching before she'd been assigned to the X-files. //Only a year ago// she mused ruefully. //A year ago I trusted my government; I believed that science could explain any phenomenon. I was happily independent then.//   
  
Scully sighed again as she plopped down behind her desk. //Now I'm being forced into independence from Mulder, and I hate them even more for it.//  
  
Thinking of her partner brought a strange mixture of emotions. The thought of seeing him and being in his presence comforted her as nothing else could during her mundane day. Scully had heard he'd been stuck with wiretap duty, and she knew he must be going stir-crazy with the inactivity.   
  
She hated that she couldn't talk openly with her best friend. She missed his late night phone calls and wished desperately that for once he wouldn't wallow in his paranoia. At each of their clandestine meetings, Mulder had insisted that she continually check for tails as she drove. Dana had gone along with his overly thorough tactics to ease his troubled mind, but she'd drawn the line at having the Lone Gunmen sweep her apartment for bugs once a week.  
  
She'd tried to get him to meet her out in public, but true to form, he continued to protect their work and their partnership, even after both had been suspended.  
  
Suddenly, Scully felt an inexplicable need to hear his voice. Knowing he wouldn't consent to open phone lines, she quickly shucked off her lab coat, grabbed her suit jacket, and was out the door, headed for FBI headquarters.  
  
**********  
J. Edgar Hoover Building  
3rd Floor Hallway  
3:57 PM  
  
  
Scully staked out a spot in the second floor hall, knowing that her former partner would soon pass by. Would he chastise her for trying to meet with him so publicly? Would he see her and then try to avoid her, to persist in their charade?   
  
She sighed and tried to look nonchalant as she saw him striding in her direction. Scully moved to intercept him. "Good afternoon, Agent Mulder--" she stopped short as he brushed past her, seeming not even to recognize her presence. Her first reaction was to be angry that he wouldn't even acknowledge her. But that look in his eyes--his body might have brushed past her, but his mind was far away. //He looks lost// she thought sadly, and turned resolutely toward the bullpen offices.  
  
**********  
J. Edgar Hoover Building  
3rd Floor Bullpen  
4:11 PM  
  
  
//Only one more hour until today's hell is over with// Mulder mused morosely. //One more day stuck in a meaningless job working with people who hate me and write me off as "Spooky." Why is it that Scully is the only one--besides Sam, of course--who's ever really accepted me just as I am? Why her? Why was she the only one who bothered to learn to look past my reputation and scare tactics so quickly? Everyone else just tolerated me so that they could get what they wanted out of me. Why has she taken it upon herself to learn me inside and out, to protect me from others and from myself, to become everything to me? *SIGH* I used to promise myself not to let anyone close enough to hurt me anymore. For once, I'm glad I didn't listen. I wonder why she even bothers with me....//   
  
Mulder's thoughts screeched to a halt as he reached his desk, sat down, and caught sight of his one and only picture frame--face down. //Well speak of the devil// he thought humorlessly and set the frame back upright, and gazed at the smiling, childish face of his sister. //So, she wants to talk.// There was a yellow sticky note attached to the glass, indicating she needed to see him as soon as possible at a prearranged location.   
  
//Oh, God....// A sudden, inexplicable anxious tension gripped his chest. //What if *They've* been bothering her! What if she's been transferred!!// His panic grew exponentially as he grabbed his jacket and overcoat and walked quickly out of the building without a backward glance.  
  
**********  
Watergate Hotel  
10:42 PM  
  
  
Scully paced nervously in the shadows of the 4th level of the Watergate Offices parking deck. Part of her regretted contacting him. He would be angry that she didn't have a Really Important reason to call him. He wouldn't accept that she just wanted to see him for the sake of seeing him. Dana missed their daily banter; she missed feeling his comforting presence at her side, fighting against the world.   
  
Scully looked up quickly at the sound of a door opening and heels clicking on the concrete. She could see the silhouette of a man walking briskly through the dimness toward her, and her breath caught in her throat. The rational part of her knew that the figure must be her partner responding to her message, but an irrationally image flashed through her mind, of their nameless source falling lifelessly to the ground.   
  
Scully shivered involuntarily, willing her stomach to stop churning at the thought of a ghostly visitation from their dead informant.  
  
"Four dollars for the first hour of parking is criminal." The tired, but still teasing, tone sent her spirits soaring, even as the speaker was still bathed in darkness. Then the figure stepped into the light, and despite his unkempt, haggard appearance, she felt the safe, familiar warmth of his presence wash over her, momentarily chasing away her fears. "What you got better be worth at least forty-five minutes."   
  
//Here goes nothin'// she thought determinedly. Scully let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, and smiled appreciatively at him. "You know, Mulder, from back there, you looked like him."  
  
"Him?"  
  
She hesitated a moment, then, "Deep Throat."   
  
She could almost feel the mix of cynicism and defeat pouring off of him as he said, evenly, "He's dead, Scully. I attended his funeral at Arlington through eight-power binoculars from a thousand yards away."  
  
Dana couldn't help but feel like she was being chastised for reminiscing, but she had promised herself to savor what little time she had with Mulder.  
  
"Now, the picture frame was turned down; you wanted to talk. What have you found?" He was all business.  
  
"I wanted to talk, but I haven't found anything," she said with slight trepidation.   
  
Mulder pursed his lips in frustration at what he saw as his partner's carelessness, but especially at the people who had forced him to be separate from her like this. "It's dangerous for us just to have a little chat, Scully," he said, his eves continually darting from shadow to shadow, looking for any threat. "We must assume we're being watched."  
  
Scully gave a long-suffering sigh. "Mulder, I haven't seen any indication--"  
  
"No, no, of course not! These people are the best," he stated emphatically.  
  
//I've *got* to get through to him// she thought, aggravated. "I've taken all of the necessary precautions. I have doubled back over my tracks to make sure that I haven't been followed, and no one has ever followed me! The X-Files have been terminated, Mulder; we have been reassigned."   
  
Mulder turned away from her. //Don't you think I know that?!// He wanted to scream.  
  
He heard Scully sigh again. "What makes you think thy care about us anymore, anyway?"  
  
"So why have you bothered to come here covertly?" //Don't question it!// his mind shrieked in protest.  
  
"Because I realized that it was the only way you would see me."  
  
He gave a slight nod. "So what do you want?" he asked softly, staring straight at her.  
  
"To know that you're all right," she answered simply.   
  
Mulder ducked his head, preparing to lie through his teeth that he was doing perfectly fine, when he knew she would most certainly see right through his ruse.   
  
"Mulder, you passed me today within a *foot*, but you were miles away."  
  
Mulder hesitated. //Go on, talk to her// his gut urged, //She's all you've got left.// "They've got me on electronic surveillance."  
  
Scully winced inwardly. She knew that the monotony would drive Mulder's active mind slowly but surely insane.  
  
"White bread cases--bank fraud, insurance fraud, healthcare swindles."  
  
"Mulder, I know that you feel...frustrated."  
  
He almost smiled. //If that isn't the understatement of the decade, I'm a yellow submarine!//  
  
She continued, "That without the Bureau's resources, it's impossible for you to continue-"  
  
"No," he mumbled.  
  
"Well, what then?" she asked, desperate to understand. "When the Bureau first shut us down, you said that you would go on for as long as the truth was out there...but I no longer feel that from you." Her voice softened at the defeated look that came over his face.  
  
He turned abruptly to look her full in the face. "Have you ever been to San Diego?" he asked in a low tone.  
  
His wild, unexpected question sent her soul soaring, temporarily thrusting her back into their days on the X-Files--it felt like coming home. //Well, at least his ability so switch topics on me hasn't changed!// Dana thought ruefully. "Yeah," she replied with much hesitation.  
  
"Did you check out the Palimar Observatory?"  
  
"No." //Where is he going with this??//  
  
"Well, from 1948 until recently, it was the largest telescope in the world. The idea and design came from a brilliant and wealthy astronomer named George Ellery Hale. Actually, the idea was *presented* to Hale one night while he was playing billiards: an elf climbed in his window, and told him to get money from the Rockefeller Foundation for a telescope."  
  
//Oh, Mulder...// Her expression softened. "And you're worried that all your life you've been seeing elves." It wasn't a question; Scully could feel his uncertainty just as surely as if it was her own.   
  
Mulder leaned up against a concrete pilaster and slid slowly down it to sit on the cement floor. "In my case...little green men." He made a face, slightly disgusted at his own doubt, but clearly at a loss as to how to deal with it. He stared off into the distance, as if he was looking for the answers in the shadows, just as he always had.  
  
"But Mulder," Scully pleaded, disturbed to see his faith shaken, "during your time with the X-Files, you've seen so much!"   
  
He turned to look at her. "That's just the point! Seeing is not enough; I should have something to hold on to, some solid evidence."  
  
//He's right// her analytical side chimed in.  
  
"I learned that from you," he reminded her quietly.  
  
"Your sister's abduction, you've held onto that." //Who'd have thought I'd be encouraging him to run after aliens!//  
  
Mulder turned away, shaking his head slightly. "I'm beginning to wonder if...if that ever even happened."  
  
//Now we come to the real problem.// "Mulder, even if George Hale only saw elves in his mind, the telescope still got built."   
  
He gazed back at her imploringly, needing her to give him some assurance that his life wasn't a waste.  
  
"Don't give up!" Scully implored.  
  
Mulder sighed, looking down at his clenched hands, wanting answers that he knew she couldn't give him.  
  
"And next time," she pronounced, her soft, affectionate tone returning, "we meet out in the open." She rose slowly and placed her hand on his still bowed head, caressing his hair lightly.  
  
Mulder squeezed his eyes shut as she walked away, trying to imprint her touch on his memory. He felt the ridiculous urge to run after her and plead with her to stay just a bit longer.   
  
Instead, he sighed and scanned his eyes over the parking garage, catching sight of a sign admonishing motorists that the lot was reserved for Watergate Hotel guests.   
  
//Watergate....// he thought listlessly, letting the memories flood over him.  
  
  
**********  
  
A/N: Well, how 'bout it? I've always liked this particular episode, one that has been rather overlooked on the Gossamer page. I hope this fic lived up to the original!  
  
**********  
  
  
"A friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."  
--Walter Winchell--  
  
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."  
--C. S. Lewis--"The Weight of Glory"--  
  
  
"You are the call and I am the answer,  
You are the wish, and I the fulfillment,  
You are the night, and I the day.  
What else - it is perfect enough.  
It is perfectly complete,  
You and I,  
What more--?  
  
Strange, how we suffer in spite of this."  
--D. H. Lawrence--  
  
  
Mulder: "Is this display of boyish agility turning you on any, Scully?" 


End file.
